Alberta dance talents return home

Now in its 12th year, the Feats Festival of Dance is Edmonton’s ultimate dance experience, a potpourri of combined disciplines and outrageous beauty.

And this year the sponsoring agency, Alberta Dance Alliance (ADA), has put together a multi-disciplinary, non-competitive, rhythm-focused slate of tap, jazz and hip hop from June 23 to July 1.

“We have some incredible tap dancers in Western Canada and the public doesn’t always see it. It’s an often under-utilized discipline and the dancers and choreographers are not as recognized as they could be. All you have to do is look at [the TV show] So You Think You Can Dance and the cruise lines and you’ll see it’s a big industry in Canada,” says Bobbi Westman, ADA executive director.

Launching the event on Thursday, June 23 at 7 p.m. is a flash mob of 100 dancers scheduled to shake it out at West Edmonton Mall near Sears. “It will be a great fun atmosphere.”

Friday and Saturday features Made in Alberta at the TransAlta Arts Barn, a main stage performance that showcases about a dozen homegrown Alberta choreographers.

Made in Alberta celebrates 65 dancers born here that have travelled to other centres and brought back newfound skills and knowledge. “This is an event that also allows young students to see they can find jobs and do well in the bigger context,” Westman says.

Some of the more prominent are Marc Hall and Deanne Walsh of Calgary’s Decidedly Jazz Danceworks as well as Edmonton-born Lisa La Touche of M.A.D.D. Rhythms Canada.

“Lisa is a fabulous choreographer and dancer. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her in a workshop atmosphere. She has a way of putting tap rhythms to music and she can adapt almost anything,” says Paige Tirs, one of La Touche’s tappers in a five-minute segment for Made in Alberta.

Tirs is a St. Albert resident who trained at the now defunct Dansation. Following a six-month stint on a cruise ship, she is now a tap instructor at Shelley’s Dance Company and a member of newbie dance troupe Breaking Barres.

Another highlight is Sunday’s Fresh Feets featuring Alberta’s next generation of performers in a night of afro-jazz, Caribbean house and various tap creations.

On Wednesday, June 29 ADA once again partners with Edmonton International Jazz Festival for a night of sugar swing and jazz orchestrations featuring Tommy Banks, P.J. Perry, Gary Guthman and Rollanda Lee.

“You don’t often see old-time swing dance from around 1916 to 1920. It’s exciting and dancers always want to dance with live music.”

On Canada Day, two public events fuse together dances from our cultural heritage. All events will be streamed live. For a complete list of events visit www.albertadancealliance.ab.ca.